HEAnet introduced a set of green public procurement criteria for all of their tenders. HEAnet tenders will include a minimum of 5% green criteria from January onwards.
Climate change and environmental degradation are an existential threat to all of us. HEAnet believes that no matter how big or small an organisation is, we can all help to create a more sustainable future. There is a strong ethos of green awareness among HEAnet’s staff, reflected by the Green Team function established a number of years ago, which encourages and supports green initiatives.
Based on recommendations issued by the Irish government (DPER circular 2019/20) and in support of the European Commission’s pillar in “investing in environmentally-friendly technologies”, HEAnet introduced new green public procurement requirement effective from January 2021.
The new requirements state that for all tenders issued by HEAnet, a minimum of 5% of the award criteria should pertain to green requirements unless the service owner has a valid reason for exemption. Service owners can choose to be prescriptive or general in their descriptors but must relate their requirements to the product/service. Below is an example of how this could be implemented:
| Award criteria | Sub-criteria | Requirement |
| Environmental 5% | Energy consumption 2% | State and describe the measures taken to minimize energy consumption in relation to the service/product quality standards can be named. |
| Recycling 3% | Describe how the products are recycled. |
Following the announcement, Kate Smiley, Procurement & Contracts Specialist at HEAnet said: “We are pleased to introduce this new green public procurement initiative for HEAnet tendering processes. There is a history of green public procurement already within HEAnet, and the introduction of this measure only makes the ask of vendors more tangible.”
Andrew Mackarel, Project Manager and the Green Team lead at HEAnet said “I am thrilled to see that the work of our team resulted in the introduction of the new green requirements. Climate change is such an overwhelming subject, it’s very hard to say where to start and what can be done to make a difference. I am proud to see that we are taking the first step in the right direction.”
